France defeated the hosts Lithuania, 20-10 and 12-1, in the final of the inaugural Baseball5 European Championship held in Vilnius on Sunday to have the honour of becoming the first-ever Baseball5 European Champions.
French Women’s National Softball Team player Pauline Prade, who is a WBSC Athlete's Commission member, was instrumental in France's run to the first European Championship title in Baseball5: "It was a great event with some very high-level games. All teams were improving game after game. I'm very proud of this gold medal. France has been instrumental in the birth and the development of Baseball5, I'm proud we were able to translate that into results on the field."
"A mixed-gender team sport, Baseball5 is what we have been missing to make our sport more popular in Europe," said the President of the French Baseball Softball Federation Didier Seminet, who is also the President of WBSC Europe. "I want to thank the Lithuanian Baseball Federation for organizing the first edition of the European Baseball5 Championship. Congratulations to everyone and thank you to the federations who believe in this new sport. Last but not least, I want to thank the WBSC for its support in the organization of this event. It's the beginning of the future for European Baseball and Softball."
France and Lithuania had already qualified for the first Baseball5 World Cup, scheduled for December by reaching the final on Saturday, since the European Championship offered two tickets to Mexico.
The final standings of the first Baseball5 European Championship
- France
- Lithuania
- Russia
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Belarus
- Israel
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- Belgium
- The Czech Republic
- Moldova
- Latvia
